Mommy Makeover Story

WD celebrates Jessi's venture into motherhood with a fresh new look

Jessi Viggiano has a lot to celebrate this Christmas—her daughter's first birthday. When we heard about her heartwrenching struggle to become a mom, we couldn't resist giving her a fresh new look for the occasion. When we heard about Jessi's heart-wrenching struggle to become a mom, we couldn't resist giving her a fresh new look for the occasion.

For as long as Jessi Viggiano can remember, she wanted to be a mom. A second grade teacher from Brick, New Jersey, Jessi met her husband, Mike, a fellow teacher, nine years ago when she was 22. The two share a love for children and couldn't wait to start a family. "We always debated whether to have two or three kids," says Jessi. Three years after meeting, Jessi and Mike were married and were thrilled to find out only a few months later that Jessi was pregnant. But their unborn daughter had a serious heart condition and Jessi lost the baby in her seventh month. "Losing our daughter shook us at our cores," says Jessi, "and it took us awhile before we were ready to try again." After three more devastating miscarriages, Jessi and Mike knew it was time to seek genetic testing. Jessi discovered that she has a chromosomal disorder that affects the development of her fertilized eggs. Determined to become parents, they started the search for an egg donor, and after just one round of in vitro fertilization Jessi got pregnant. It was a rough pregnancy with lots of restrictions, but last year Elise, a healthy baby girl, was born. "Elise is our world," says Jessi. "Mike and I cherish her every single day—we finally feel complete." This holiday season Elise is turning 1, and what better way to acknowledge this milestone, we thought, than to treat Jessi to a gorgeous makeover.

The Transformation

We went straight to the pros at the Ricardo Rojas Salon in NYC to get this busy working mom a glam update.

Color Since Jessi has never colored her hair—ever—Ricardo started off by deepening her base color to a rich cocoa brown. The new color created a beautiful contrast between her hair and skin tone. Then he added face-framing auburn highlights to brighten up her features.

Cut Ricardo loved the length of Jessi's hair but changed its shape. He cut lots of layers in the front to frame her face and to give her hair more movement. Best of all, her sophisticated new cut can still go back into a ponytail.

Makeup To show off Jessi's blue eyes, celebrity makeup artist Celeste Duquesne layered on shades of gold eyeshadow. She also used a lightweight foundation to even out Jessi's sensitive skin and to conceal the redness in her cheeks. Nude lipcolor finishes the look.

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